Through Another's Eyes
by thelilacfield
Summary: Blaine finishes and steps off stage to scattered applause. Silence falls over the bar for a minute and she hears Kurt's soft, "Blaine," as Blaine himself walks out of the place, the door clicking shut behind him with a sound of undeniable finality.


Spoilers for 4x04, though hopefully everyone has seen that heart-breaking behind the scenes clip by now. Decided to try an outsider viewing Kurt and Blaine's relationship at that point, with bonus Brody.

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Through Another's Eyes

Charlotte has seen plenty of things through her time working the bar in Callbacks. Since Brody introduced her to the owner, she's watched the students of NYADA pass through the polished tables and wooden chair, singing their hearts out on the tiny stage, singing of love and life and loss.

Brody grins and winks at her from where he's seated with Rachel, the girl Charlotte recognises from the pictures on his phone, and three men she doesn't know, a tall man with his arm resting ostentatiously along the back of the girl's seat as he talks, and two sitting together but not speaking, one looking down at his phone and the other, the one who looks about twelve with his slicked-down hair and air of innocence, staring sadly into space.

The sad one stands up after a few minutes and ascends to the stage, sitting down at the piano. The man on his phone finally puts the device to rest and smiles up at the stage, eyes softening as the man on-stage begins to speak, "Um…hi everybody, my name's Blaine. This song is very special to me, so, Kurt," he looks at the man watching him, who smiles wider, but Blaine's eyes are big and tear-glazed, "this one's for you."

He starts to sing, and Charlotte has to take a moment before she recognises the song as_Teenage Dream_, used the hearing the insufferable original song. She keeps wiping the inside of the same glass, too engrossed in the music to even notice she's doing it. Kurt starts the song smiling, but the expression fades at the crack in Blaine's voice, the tears in his eyes. Looking between the men, Charlotte feels her own heart break and wipes tears from her eyes.

Blaine finishes and steps off stage to scattered applause. Silence falls over the bar for a minute and she hears Kurt's soft, "Blaine," as Blaine himself walks out of the place, the door clicking shut behind him with a sound of undeniable finality.

Lindsay appears behind Charlotte, grabbing for a clean rag and wiping her tear-stained cheeks, sniffing loudly as Jamie rolls his eyes behind her and reaches for a glass as someone bangs on the bar-top for a refill. "Oh my _God_, we have to _fix this_!" Lindsay exclaims, voice thick with emotion. "It can't end there!"

"Life isn't a romantic comedy, Lindse," Jamie chastises gently. "In real life, the world-weary barmaid doesn't talk to the young patron and help him get his love life back on track. We watch them come, we watch them go, and we don't interfere in their lives."

"I'll give you the most kick-ass Christmas present ever if you let me meddle in someone's life just this once," Charlotte says hurriedly as Lindsay's lip begins quivering violently again. "No more crying, okay, Lindse? I'll fix it." Jamie raises an eyebrow, but just gestures for her to go and slips an arm around Lindsay, whispering soft words of futile comfort.

Charlotte slips into the chair opposite Kurt, Brody apparently having left in a hurry and the tallest man and Rachel gone, their silhouettes indistinct through the glass, only really visible in the night because of their violent gesticulations, and pushes a glass of the finest red wine she could find among the stores across to him. "On the house," she says when he looks up, forcing a smile onto her face despite the way her heart cracks at the devastation in his eyes. "You look like you could use a good drink."

"Thanks, but I don't drink much," Kurt says shortly, pushing the glass away. She stays silent until he looks at her. "Aren't you going to leave? Please, just leave me alone. I don't want to talk."

"Come on, kid, this world-weary barmaid has some experience in relationships," she says, nudging his ankle with the point of her heel under the table. "Maybe you could get some insight from an outsider's eyes."

"He always sang his emotions better than he said them," Kurt murmurs after a long silence. Charlotte doesn't answer, just watches him as he continues telling her of the relationship. "He sang that song to me the very first time we met, it's always been our song in a way, and he just…We've been working at a long-distance relationship and I thought it would work out because we're us, but it's not working and he's trying to tell me something and I think it's that he wants to end things but I don't know and I don't want to lose him and I don't want to think he flew out here from Ohio just to break up with me, but he booked a hotel room instead of staying with me and it all adds up and I just…" He breaks off, eyes filled with tears, and transfers his gaze to the table, scraping his nails into the wood.

"Honey, you should go after him," she says firmly. "I don't know about your life or your world or your relationship, but there's something in that boy's eyes and his song that you don't want to lose. He can't have gone far without knowing where he's going, so follow him. Find out what's wrong and put it back together. It won't be the same as before, but it'll still be there, and that's what matters."

Kurt nods dumbly and leaves, and Charlotte just watches as the door clatters shut behind him and she sees his silhouette rush past the window as he breaks into a run. She looks over to see Brody returning to his seat, and he wags his finger at her in reprimand when he catches on to what she's done. She shrugs and smirks naughtily before returning to her station behind the bar as another NYADA student begins to plink-ponk their way through a song of sunshine.

Christmas creeps up faster than she expected it to, and before long it's her last day of work, on the twenty-third, and her arms are full of last-minute hastily-bought gifts as she rushes in thirty minutes late due to an accident on the icy roads. It's pretty quiet, thank goodness, as it's eleven o'clock in the morning on a Sunday two days before Christmas, and plenty of NYADA students have already gone home for Christmas.

"Check out the couple on the piano," Lindsay whispers as she hurries into the staff area, tying the apron neatly around her waist and dumping her snow-covered boots and bags in a free corner. "Look familiar?"

She looks over when she walks out into public, Brody sitting waiting for her at a table, an arm wrapped securely around Rachel, and he winks and jerks his head towards the stage. As she turns, she hears a somehow familiar voice sing, _"I really can't stay,"_ and another respond, _"But, baby, it's cold outside."_

Charlotte can't help the smile that spreads across her face as she sees Kurt and Blaine at the piano, Blaine playing and Kurt sitting atop the instrument, swinging his legs lightly as they sing. They're both smiling into each other's eyes, looking dizzyingly in love.

"Aren't they just _adorable_?!" Lindsay squeals happily, bouncing on her socked feet as she appears behind Charlotte. "See, Jamie, sometimes life is a romantic comedy! The advice from our own world-weary barmaid did work out for them."

"It wasn't necessarily Char's advice that got them happy again," Jamie points out fairly. "Maybe they're smart and figure it out by themselves."

Charlotte smiles to herself as Lindsay berates Jamie's lack of a romantic bone and watches the couple singing the corny festive duet. Kurt catches her eyes for a moment and does a double-take as he recognises her. She winks and mouths _You're welcome_ as the song ends and Brody, Rachel and Lindsay break into enthusiastic applause, supplemented by spontaneous whoops when Blaine pulls Kurt in for a kiss.

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Hope you enjoyed, and please let me know if you did! :)


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